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Corsair DHX 4GB DDR2-800MHz

09-27-2008, 08:00 PM

Phoronix: Corsair DHX 4GB DDR2-800MHz

It's been a while since last looking at any Corsair memory at Phoronix, but up for review this afternoon is their latest TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX memory. This DDR2 memory features Corsair's DHX technology for cooling the memory ICs with EPP latencies of 4-4-4-12 and run at 800MHz. Like many other Corsair products, the TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX is also backed by a lifetime warranty.

I'm wondering why the quicker ( 4 4 4 12 ) timings seem to be slower then the standard timing. Both seem to have this behavior, In nearly every test they seem to be slightly slower , and in the ramspeed test they drop from nearly 3 gb/s to 2.2 .

Comment

1. The tests confirm that for most desktop applications, memory doesn't matter. There was very little difference between timings or speed.
2. The Corsair memory was reported as 2T. The OCZ was command rate was not reported. Back when I used optimize memory, I found command rate to have significant effect on benchmark results.
3. Memory is only part of the equation. The memory speed and latency must not just be maximized, but must be matched to the requirements of the memory controller, cache, and CPU. Running odd or fractional speeds and multipliers may look good on paper, but may not produce real world benefit.
4. With the integrated memory controller, my Athlon64 is much more sensitive to CPU speed than RAM speed. I believe most benchmarks will reflect this. Don't know if multicores are as insensitive to memory speed. RAM speed only matters if there are significant cache misses (on the last cache). Cache speed it tied to CPU speed.
5. As deanjo mentioned there are other memory considerations not touched upon in the article.
6. No memory temperature measurements were taken. Minimal voltage information was reported. No power consumption figures were listed. Of course, power only matters for heat generation, since an extra watt shouldn't tax the power supply or VRM section. Voltage only matters if your motherboard isn't adjustable. But temperature might be significant. Certainly, the heat sinks got plenty of editorial space. Was temperature related to stability? Did the heat sinks work?

I'm sure there are (server) situations where memory speed matters, but I don't know any specifically. Maybe a web server where the cgi scripts are stored in memory for quick access?

Comment

I've been running them in 800Mhz 4.4.4.12.22.2T 2.1volts unganged mode.

So should a after looking at these tests use the 5.5.5.18.23.2T ones instead? And try to OC them to 1066Mhz?
I find it really odd the 4.4.4.12 are beaten by the 5.5.5.18 timings.
I have a Phenom X4 9750 aswell

Comment

I've been running them in 800Mhz 4.4.4.12.22.2T 2.1volts unganged mode.

So should a after looking at these tests use the 5.5.5.18.23.2T ones instead? And try to OC them to 1066Mhz?
I find it really odd the 4.4.4.12 are beaten by the 5.5.5.18 timings.
I have a Phenom X4 9750 aswell

What motherboard are you running? Best way to to check what timings are suited to your machine is to run the Phoronix Test Suite and compare results.